Niles man created 12-minute Halloween light show for ‘laughter and good moments’
A Niles resident has a “go big or go home” approach to the Halloween decorations — or rather, Halloween light show — at his family’s home.
Peter Selim created a 12-minute presentation of dancing skeletons, music, pumpkins and references to the film “Ghostbusters” and projected it onto his house for the whole neighborhood, and visitors, to see. He told Pioneer Press that around 2,000 people came to see his house during the Halloween season last year.
The home, located at 8267 Wisner Street, has about 50 to 60 people showing up every evening since the decorations went up on Oct. 16, according to Selim. The 12-minute show goes from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day until Nov. 1. Selim said it’s pretty common for folks to stick around much longer to rewatch the show and hang out together.
Selim, who works in IT, designs, edits and renders the show and calibrates his projector to fit the dimensions of his house. The show includes festive Halloween music that Selim broadcasts to an unused radio signal.
Asked how he does it, Selim simply laughs and says it’s magic. As for the costs associated with the lights, he said the fun he brings is more important than the dollar amount.
Selim put together the show for the first time a year ago to surprise his wife and 3-year-old son. Selim said his wife encouraged him to post on social media about it, even though he was hesitant to do so at first. “I’m not a person to show off,” said Selim “I’m just trying to do something fun and be creative.”
Selim said the social media posts picked up steam and soon enough, people came from as far as Naperville and Aurora. “I had people sitting on top of their cars,” he said.
Selim said he does the presentation to have the community come together, and has added segments for kids and their parents. “I have kids singing ‘Who you gonna call,’ and it’s just so cute,” said Selim. “That’s what makes me want to do more because you just see these kids singing and dancing and bringing the community together… it’s just like a magical type of thing, you know.”
“We need a lot more laughter and good moments in this world that we live in today,” said Selim. “Just take a minute out of everyone’s busy lives and just have a good time and enjoy the moment of life.”
